Louisiana Republicans are saying the administration's decision to lift the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling isn't enough to resuscitate the oil and gas industries.

The state's Republicans have been slamming the administration since the six-month moratorium was issued in late May, arguing that it puts people in their districts out of work.

The Interior Department said Tuesday that deepwater drilling can resume if operators follow new safety rules. But Republicans say those rules could still stifle companies. Permitting for shallow-water offshore drilling has slowed considerably since the spill, and members said deepwater drilling could face the same problem, moratorium or no moratorium.

"The bottom line is that the moratorium isn't lifted until these workers are back on the rigs and American energy is flowing through the pipelines again," Rep. Bill Cassidy said in a statement. "Replacing a temporary moratorium with a de facto moratorium does little to help unemployed rig workers or improve America's energy security."

Louisiana GOP Reps. Steve Scalise, Rodney Alexander, Charles Boustany and John Fleming issued similar statements Tuesday, with Scalise calling the new guidelines a "mirage" that won't necessarily help the industry get back on its feet.

"The administration needs to stop playing games with the people who work in America's energy industry and finally lay out a clear path that allows permits to be issued using safer standards that quickly get people back to work," he said.

Scalise said in June that the moratorium was doing more harm to the state than the BP oil spill itself.

Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, recommended the moratorium be lifted because the agency has implemented new safety rules that regulate well design, drilling fluid and blowout preventers.

"We have more work to do in our reform agenda, but at this point we believe the strengthened safety measures we have implemented ... have reduced risks to a point where operators who play by the rules and clear the higher bar can be allowed to resume," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.

Companies won't be able to resume drilling until they've proved they've met the new higher standards.